In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in demand for mobile connectivity solutions utilizing various wireless components and wireless local area networks (WLANs). This generally involves the use of wireless access points (APs) that communicate with mobile devices using one or more RF channels.
In one class of wireless networking systems, relatively unintelligent access ports act as RF conduits for information that is passed to the network through a centralized intelligent switch, or “wireless switch,” that controls wireless network functions. In a typical WLAN setting, one or more wireless switches communicate via conventional networks with multiple access points that provide wireless links to mobile units operated by end users. The wireless switch, then, typically acts as a logical “central point” for most wireless functionality. Consolidation of WLAN intelligence and functionality within a wireless switch provides many benefits, including centralized administration and simplified configuration of switches and access points.
Currently known systems, however, are undesirable in a number of respects. For example, security between different wireless termination points (e.g., wireless switches, access points, access ports, etc.) is still unsatisfactory and unstandardized, depending highly upon the types of termination points involved. Further, control frames tend to be sent in the clear over both level 2 and layer 3 networks.
One of the efforts to solve the security issue between such termination points is entitled Control and Provisioning of Wireless Access Points (CAPWAP) Protocol Specification, Calhoun, ed., et al., Internet Draft, March 2008. In this protocol, however, the embedded implementation based on DTLS is exceedingly large, taking up a large amount of memory in the housing device. Furthermore, there are interoperability problems between devices introduced by the methods set forth in CAPWAP.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide improved, lightweight methods and systems for securing control frames on both levels 2 and 3 for wireless termination points. Other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.